Bihar Assembly 2025: Women Secure Less Than a Quarter Representation Despite Half the Population

Patna: In the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections, women played a crucial role in helping the NDA cross the historic 200-seat mark. Yet, despite being half of the state’s population, women could secure less than a quarter of the seats in the legislature. Both participation and victory rates for women candidates lagged significantly behind their male counterparts.

Participation Across Parties
In the 2025 elections, only 258 women candidates contested against 2,357 men, highlighting the persistent gender gap in political representation. Among the major parties, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) led in nominating women, fielding 23 female candidates, while the Indian National Congress nominated six, the VIP and left parties fielded one each.

Within the NDA, the BJP and JD(U) each fielded 13 women, while the LJP (R) nominated five, HAM (Secular) two, and the RLSP one female candidate. Notably, some nominations within smaller parties involved family members of party leaders, but they contributed to a slight increase in female representation.

Electoral Outcomes
Out of the 258 women candidates, only 29 were elected to the Bihar Assembly. A majority of these victories, 25 seats, were won by NDA-backed candidates:

• BJP: 13 women contested; 10 won.
• JD(U): 13 women contested; 10 won.
• LJP (R): 5 women contested; 3 won.
• HAM (Secular): 2 women contested; 2 won.
• RLSP: 1 woman contested; 1 won.

The Mahagathbandhan fielded 31 women, but only three were victorious. The Congress nominated six women, none of whom won. Smaller parties like MLC and VIP each nominated one woman, but all were defeated.

Women Legislators by Party

BJP

1. Renu Devi – Bettiah
2. Gayatri Devi – Parihar
3. Devanti Yadav – Narpatganj
4. Nisha Singh – Pranpur
5. Kavita Kumari – Kodha
6. Maithili Thakur – Alinagar
7. Rama Nishad – Aurai
8. Chhoti Kumari – Chhapra
9. Sangeeta Kumari – Mohaniya
10. Shreyasi Singh – Jamui

JD(U)

1. Shalini Mishra – Kesariya
2. Shweta Gupta – Shivhar
3. Meena Kamat – Babubarhi
4. Sheila Mandal – Phulparas
5. Lacy Singh – Dhamdaha
6. Komal Singh – Gayghat
7. Ashwamegh Devi – Samastipur
8. Manorama Devi – Belaganj
9. Vibha Devi – Nawada

RJD

1. Karishma Rai – Parsa
2. Savitri Devi – Chakai
3. Anita Devi – Nokha
4. Anita Devi – Warsaliganj
5. Savitri Devi – Chakai

HAM

1. Deepa Kumari – Imamganj
2. Jyoti Devi – Warachati

RLSP

1. Snehlata – Sasaram

LJP (R)

1. Sangeeta Devi – Balrampur
2. Baby Kumari – Bochha
3. Vinita Mehta – Govindpur

Comparison with 2020 Elections
In 2020, the ruling JD(U) had fielded 22 women across 115 seats, while the BJP contested 13 seats with female candidates. The Congress, RJD, and left parties together fielded 24 women out of 243 seats, with RJD contributing 16 female candidates.

Conclusion
The 2025 Bihar Assembly elections reveal a continuing gender gap in political representation. Despite women contributing significantly to the electoral success of major parties, their presence in the legislature remains far below their population share, highlighting the need for more robust efforts to ensure gender parity in politics.